Dengue epidemic--Peru, 1990.

From March to July 1990, an epidemic of classical dengue caused by dengue types 1 and 4 (DEN-1 and DEN-4) occurred in Iquitos and the surrounding area of the department of Loreto in the Amazon region of Peru (Figure 1). A smaller outbreak was reported in Tarapoto in the neighboring department of San Martin. Although cases were reported in Peru during 1953-1955 and in 1958 (1), the epidemic in 1990 was the first laboratory confirmation of indigenous transmission of dengue in Peru. This report summarizes the preliminary findings of the epidemiologic investigation by the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MOH) and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute Detachment (NAMRID), Lima, Peru, which conducted special studies and laboratory confirmation of cases in persons seen at the Peruvian Naval Medical Center, Iquitos, Peru.